“But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

– Joshua 24:15

WHEN MY WIFE and I were preparing for our marriage, one thing that we decided to do was to write our own vows. I’m so glad we did. As we look back on our wedding, the vows that we shared were the fondest memory of that day.

For our first wedding anniversary, I framed a copy of my vows to my wife and hung it prominently on the wall. I did not do this simply because of sentimentality. I did it because this was my personal “vision statement” for my wife. When hard times inevitably arrive, I wanted my future children to know that our marriage was based on a promise of commitment and not simply raw emotions. And if for some reason our marriage was steering “off-track,” I wanted there to be something that we could refer back to which would guide us to the right place.

Be Thou My Vision strikes me as something similar to a personal vision statement or a wedding vow. It seems to be saying: “Father, even if all the world fails You, I will not! My love for you will remain steadfast. My commitment to you will remain true. This is my unconditional promise.” There is no doubt that this hymn makes a very hard promise (especially for such miserably unfaithful people as us). But then again, all good things in life have their foundation on trust and difficult commitments. And this thing that we have with God is infinitely good!